New Year’s Day Mega Millions Jackpot Estimated At $425 Million

NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) – I don’t think many people would mind starting off the New Year as a multi-millionaire.

Tonight’s Mega Millions grand prize has climbed to $425 Million, making it the eighth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

No one walked away with the grand prize on December 28. The winning numbers for that drawing were 9, 10, 25, 37 and 38 and the Mega Ball was 21.

To play the Mega Millions game you select five numbers from 1 to 70 and one Mega Ball number from 1 to 25.

If a single ticket winner chooses the cash option for Tuesday’s jackpot they’ll walk away with a lump sum of about $254.6 million.

While there will undoubtedly be more people taking a chance on striking it rich, the odds of matching all six numbers and winning the game are still one in 302.5 million.

Lottery officials say there hasn’t been a New Year’s Day winner drawn since 2008.

Mega Millions is played in Texas, 43 other states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It costs $2 to play the game — without the Megaplier option — and the sales cutoff time in Texas is 9:45 p.m.